C&L U7s reach semi-finals of U8 tournament

In a picturesque, classic English village cricket setting at Wooburn the boys arrived bright and early on the Sunday morning, Whilst the coach may have been slightly nervous about having put the boys in to play in the older age group, the boys had no such concerns and got stuck into some practice to be ready for the first game at 9.30. Our team was Jeevan Brar, Frank Harrop, Zachary Saul, William Herring, Harry Neal and Spencer Guthrie.

Game 1 - C&L U7s (60 runs) beat Farnham Common U8s (21 runs)

Having lost the toss we were asked to bat first and Zach and Harry opened for us. Zach immediately showed the benefit of some practice shots by smashing a six and a boundary in the first over. William and Spencer came in next and somehow William managed to take strike for all 12 balls! Whilst there was some confusion with a run out, a six from William kept the score moving forwards. Jeevan and Frank came in to finish our innings off and 4 boundaries from Frank, along with a couple of boundaries from Jeevan, made for a great finish as we scored 60 runs from our 6 overs.

William opened the bowling and picked up a wicket clean bowled in his first over before Zach followed up with another tight over that meant FC had a net score of -1 from the first 2 overs! Although FC managed to score 6, 8 and 8 off the next 3 overs, a maiden over from Jeevan closed the innings out for a comfortable win.

Game 2 - Cookham Dean U8s (68 runs) beat C&L U7s (36 runs)

Having won the toss, the boys chose to bowl first. William and Zach started with some control and CD were on 15 after 2 overs. The middle overs, however, contained some phenomenal power hitting from the CD boys with one batter doing a great Ben Stokes impression smashing 28 runs in one over. Another over went for 16 which meant that, despite a tight last over from Jeevan, CD posted an imposing 68 runs from their 6 overs.

Zach got the innings off to a great start again with 3 boundaries and a six, and Jeevan and Frank finished strongly with a few boundaries but the CD bowling was strong (Ben Stokes was again in force bowling with real pace from a run up that started outside the boundary line!) as we posted 36.

Game 3 - C&L U7s (50 runs) beat Wooburn U8s (14 runs)

Winning the toss, the boys again chose to bowl. All of the boys bowled very tight overs with a maiden from Zach and a clean bowled wicket from Harry as we kept the Wooburn score down to 14.

Zach smashed a boundary and a six as we raced to 14 in the first over! The rest of the boys accumulated runs before a final flurry of 2 boundaries and a six from Jeevan propelled our score to 50 for a comfortable win.

Game 4 - C&L U7s (53 runs) beat Beaconsfield U8s (14 runs)

The boys went into this game very excited in the knowledge that a win would guarantee us a semi-final berth, whereas a loss would leave us waiting for net run rates to be calculated.

Although we lost the toss, the boys were delighted that, for the 3rd game in a row, we bowled first. William started with a wicket in the first over and then we picked up a run out in Zach's over to leave a net score of 4 after 2 overs. BCC managed to score 5, 6 and 4 off the next 3 overs but a wicket maiden from Jeevan closed the innings out and pegged them back to 14 runs.

Zach launched his now customary boundary and six as we raced to 18 from the first over. The rest of the innings continued in similar vein with a couple of boundaries apiece from William and Frank, and a six and a boundary from Jeevan as we racked up 53 runs to put us very firmly into the semi-finals.

Semi-Final - Gerrards Cross U8s (40 runs) beat C&L U7s (9 runs)

GX won the toss and chose to bat, leaving us bowling first again. Zach got us off to a great start with a wicket in the first over. Harry and Frank then kept control with 7 and 5 from their overs respectively. In the fourth over there was some great batting as GX took 18 off the over - Spencer was magnificent though as he didn't wilt under the onslaught and maintained his accuracy. William and Jeevan were able to contain some very powerful batsmen at the death, conceding 4 and 7 respectively, to hold GX to 40.

From the start of our innings it was clear that the extra physical strength of the older GX boys, combined with good bowling technique, meant that our boys were up against bowling that was consistently at a speed that they had never experienced before (other than in 1 over from Ben Stokes in the Cookham Dean match!). All of the boys tried their best and refused to take a step back, with Spencer even stepping down the pitch to pinch a single. Harry showed fighting spirit by staying out in the middle even after a ball jumped off the top edge of the bat and hit him in the face, before Jeevan provided some relief on the last ball of the innings when he smashed a boundary with a pull shot that threatened to take the square leg umpire out as he dived for cover!

The tournament was a remarkable success and bodes well for the future. Next year the boys will be back at Wooburn with a years more experience and playing in the right year group :)

Stats from the tournament below:

Bowling

Batting